Father Kyle Schnippel gives “joyful witness” to faith and priesthood on ABC baking show

Starting Thursday night Dec. 7 at 9:00pm (though hopefully not ending then), Ohio priest Father Kyle Schnippel will be featured on the returning ABC TV series “The Great American Baking Show.” As a press release about the show notes, “‘The Great American Baking Show’ showcases some of the nation’s best bakers as they compete in a series of themed challenges and eliminations all hoping to be crowned ‘America’s Best Amateur Baker.'”

Unfortunately, judge Mary Berry won’t be around this time to remind contestants that “nobody likes a soggy bottom” when it comes to their cakes and pastries, but hopefully the lesson will have been learned in their own pasts.

“Catholic Digest” profiled Fr. Kyle about how he got involved with the show and what he told his parishioners since his participation had to be kept a secret. Evangelization was part of his focus, as he told interviewer Lori Hadacek Chaplin:

“I made it a requirement that I be allowed to wear clerics on the show because it’s a reflection of who I am,” he says. “After filming, one of the other contestants said something along the lines of, ‘Thank you so much for being such a joyful witness of your faith and the priesthood. Even though I am not Catholic, I got a sense of the joy that you have in who you are and what you do. Thank you for sharing that with us.’”

Fr. Schnippel hopes his joyful witness comes across in the show. He’ll find out if it does, along with his congregation, because there will be a giant watch party at one of his parishes when the The Great American Baking Show airs 9-11 p.m. EST Thursday, Dec. 7, on ABC. The experience will be interactive for his parishioners because Fr. Schnippel will serve up the same bakes as he made on the show.

Read the whole article here. You can find Father Kyle on Twitter here.

After graduating from St. John’s University in New York with degrees in Communications and English, Tony Rossi found a job at the Catholic media organization, The Christophers, that allowed him to indulge his interest in religion, media, and pop culture. He served as The Christophers’ TV producer for 11 years, and is currently the organization’s Director of Communications. The job entails hosting and producing the radio show/podcast “Christopher Closeup,” writing and editing the syndicated “Light One Candle” column, producing and scriptwriting the annual Christopher Awards ceremony, and more.